Heavy Duty Trucking, April 2018

HDT APRIL 2018 44 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM enworth has removed the black shroud from its latest green initiative the Zero Emissions Cargo Transport ZECT The truck is a hydrogen fuel cell powered battery electric vehicle capable at this point of about 100 miles of travel fully loaded Kenworth plans to increase that in the future with the addition of greater hydrogen storage capacity The truck produces no emissions other than a small column of steam when the hydrogen fuel cell stack is charging the batteries It makes no noise other than the cooling fans and the air compressor Its truly a vehicle that will fit comfortably into any urban environment especially those areas where air quality is a concern This truck will be deployed at a Los Angeles based port drayage company Total Transportation Services Inc at the end of March It will be working at the ports of LA and Long Beach The truck was first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January It has been in the works for just a few months and was actually run for the first time in December Kenworth took the unusual step of inviting the trade media to see and drive the truck even though it is very much in the prototype stage There were a few hiccups during the days ride and drives but as Kenworths research and development manager Brian Lindgren reminded reporters its a prototype its still really early in the development process Funding comes from a grant from the U S Department of Energy with Southern Californias South Coast Air Quality Management District being the prime applicant the Center for Transportation and the Environment is overseeing the project The major powertrain partners are BAE Systems a hybrid transit bus manufacturer and Ballard Power Systems which developed the proton exchange membrane PEM hydrogen fuel cell system Drayage is not long haul The powertrain on this truck is scaled for short haul service working at a drayage facility where it will run 30 50 miles per day Consequently it has a fairly small hydrogen storage capacity and batteries that can comfortably deliver speeds in the 30 50 mph range It will go much faster Lindgren said but its limited to some degree for the testing phase Our motors are rated at 420 kW or about 565 hp at a constant rate but they will peak considerably higher he said We are limiting the output to about 300 kW until we prove out the systems The fuel cell system has a net output of 85 kW but to run an 80000 pound truck at 65 mph takes about 125 kW so the truck isnt set up for the highway But that doesnt mean it lacks performance Theres enough power to maintain 30 mph on a 6 grade and to start on 20 grade with 80000 lb The system is powered by six compressed hydrogen storage tanks each containing about 12 pounds of hydrogen gas compressed to about 5000 psi Lindgren said one pound of hydrogen contains about the Kenworth offers sneak peek at zero emissions transport same energy as one pound of diesel fuel The range of the truck is limited by the hydrogen capacity It has 100 kWh of capacity with about 80 90 kWh usable It takes about 2 kWh per mile to move the truck down the road and 70 of the batterys capacity would run the truck about 70 miles The present battery pack weighs about 5000 pounds The system works by using the stored hydrogen to produce electricity to charge the battery pack While there is some regenerative braking capability the hydrogen fuel cell will come on and produce voltage to charge the batteries when the voltage drops below a certain level It does not run all the time When the hydrogen is depleted the truck is no longer capable of generating electricity It can also be cable charged but thats not as efficient as the fuel cell Lindgren noted Zero or near zero emissions The name of the game with this truck is zero emissions A CNG boosted batteryelectric system would get you near zero but thats not the goal The only way to get to zero is with allbattery or with hydrogen fuel cells said Lindgren We think for heavy trucks battery By Jim Park Equipment Editor jpark@ truckinginfo com FUEL SMARTS K PHOTOS JIM PARK Kenworths Zero Emissions Cargo Transport can haul 80000 lb with a range of 100 150 miles an ideal setup for port drayage service

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